An increasing number of our indexes and catalogues are also becoming available on-line through the Access to Archives website, which is sponsored by the Public Record Office. Those indexes and catalogues currently or soon to be on-line are:
The information which follows relates mainly to the paper and card indexes and catalogues in the search-room.
In general, information should first be sought from an index. The index cards or slips give the references of the documents to which they relate, and these references allow you to take the next step - that is, looking at the list or catalogue entries for the relevant documents.
In most cases it is also advisable to consult a list or catalogue entry before ordering the original document concerned, because the description of a document in the lists may be detailed enough for your needs. You may request that long detailed catalogue entries be photocopied for you; the cost per page is the same as that for any A4 document. In some cases the original - if it is a very old document - may be too difficult for you to read unless you are familiar with the language and handwriting of the time. Most early documents are written in Latin, and in an unfamiliar form of handwriting. In a few cases, these documents have been transcribed or translated already, or calendared in enough detail to give you the necessary information. On the other hand, the catalogue entry may make it obvious that the document is irrelevant to your research, and save it being produced unnecessarily for you.
You should be aware that the lists and indexes are not a complete guide to all of the collections deposited in Devon Record Office. Many collections still await listing and even those that are listed - particularly in the last 25 years - will not necessarily have been indexed by place name and personal name, but only by subject. The search-room staff may be able to supply specific information about unlisted or un-indexed source material and you should ask them for advice. However, you should always search the available indexes and catalogues personally before making enquiries of this nature.
There are three main types of index: the personal names index , place name index and subject index.
Personal names index
There is one main alphabetical card index of personal names and it is important to note that the variant forms of a name are generally indexed under the recognised standard modern equivalent, e.g. Hoper, Houpere or Howper will be found under Hooper. Many collections are not indexed here. Names from parish records and wills catalogues are not included in this index, and it has not been added to for a number of years. There are separate wills indexes - for more information, see our webpages on Wills and Probate Records .
Place names index
There are two general place names indexes. The main index, which has not been added to for a number of years, is arranged on cards alphabetically by ancient parish and, where possible, tenement within each parish, by manor and, in cases such as Torquay, by the modern town name. This index contains references to documents originally deposited in the Devon County Record Office up to 1977. A separate place names' index to documents deposited in the Exeter City Library and, later, the East Devon Area Record Office, between 1947 and May 1977 is in the form of small green A5 size ring binders, containing catalogue slips arranged alphabetically by ancient parish, and in date order within each parish.
Subject index
There were two main subject card indexes which were amalgamated in 1977. One, which was compiled in the County Record Office prior to 1977 and which was known as the Concord House subject index, has been superseded by the present index. The other main index was originally a detailed subject index to the collections deposited in the Exeter City Library and, later, the East Devon Area Record Office, between 1947 and May 1977 and was expanded to replace the Concord House index and form a single comprehensive subject index to all collections. The subject indexing scheme was based on one developed by the National Register of Archives (a copy of this scheme is in the search room) but this has been modified to include other subject headings, to meet the specific requirements of the office. Indexes of maps and plans, manors and wills have been incorporated in this subject index.
There are also several separate card indexes of a specialised nature, including personal name and subject indexes to Quarter Sessions Order Books, 1734-1802, and more information about these can be supplied by the search room staff.
Current numbering classification scheme
Each newly deposited collection of documents is given the next consecutive number in a numerical classification scheme which originated in the County Record Office in the 1950s. Catalogues or lists of documents in the deposit will give this number as a deposit or collection number. The main series of catalogues or lists is arranged in deposit number order, beginning with deposit number 1, and you will normally find the catalogue lists of fifty deposits to each binder (for example, the first binder contains catalogue lists for deposits 1 to 50). Very large lists have their own separate binder or series of binders (for example, Buller of Downes collection, 2065M).
Documents which are classified under this scheme are numbered as follows: the deposit number (e.g. 2065) followed by a capital letter indicating the class of document or its provenance (e.g. M) and then by a descriptive reference, reference letters or numbers, or a combination of all or any of these ( e.g. 2065M/SS 2/3; 1292M/Leases/Bow 10; 645C/EFL 1). When you have found a reference to a relevant document in an index, the initial deposit number will enable you to find the binder where the relevant list is to be found, and by looking through the contents page at the beginning of a list (or through the whole list if it is a short one) for the full document reference, you will be able to find a description of the document contents.
An example of a catalogue entry:
| 5311M/E 1 | Estate Account Book, Prattshayes, Exmouth (including some references to Court Farm, Clyst St. George) | c.1846-1910 |
Previous numbering classification schemes
Previously deposited collections have generally kept their old reference numbers (in other words, they have not been renumbered) but new documents are not allocated references under these schemes any longer.
Documents which were deposited in the Exeter City Library and, later, in the East Devon Area Record Office, before May 1977 were listed using different classification schemes, all of which were no longer used for deposits made after May 1977.
The Exeter City Library originally allotted a deposit number to each document received, and preceded it with the classification DD. Large numbers of these documents were described or calendared in some detail and the calendars are bound into volumes, which are on our search-room shelves. Where DD documents have not been calendared, the only guide to most of them, apart from entries in the place names index, is contained in a brief summary list in deposit number order. This summary list is also kept on our search-room shelves.
Some uncalendared DD deposits were listed, re-classified and re-numbered, using the classification Z, followed by a number and sub-numbers ( e.g. Z 1/10/517; Z 18/62). The lists in this series are to be found in small red A5 size ring binders on the search-room shelves.
Court rolls and other manorial records were given the separate classification CR followed by a number, and some are calendared in volumes. A brief descriptive list, with an index, of the CR series is available.
The DD and CR series were superseded in 1946 by a new archivally-based classification scheme which used the last two numbers of the year of deposit, and the number of the deposit within that year, as the collection reference number (e.g. collection 47/3 was the third collection deposited in 1947). Individual documents within the deposit were then classified and given numbers and sub-numbers according to their place in the deposit (e.g. 47/3/2/14; 77/9/42).
The lists in this series (commonly known as the EDRO series) are also to be found in the series of small red A5 size ring binders.
Special catalogue series
There are various specialised series of catalogues, which include lists of distinctive classes of documents. Some of these may include their own indexes. In some cases, these lists have been duplicated from the main series and EDRO catalogues, and gathered together into another series of binders, to help searchers more easily find material on a particular topic or theme. Examples of the main classes which are covered by such lists are as follows:-
The archives of the City of Exeter (ECA)
This extremely large collection is partly described in various lists, and a card index, but there is no complete comprehensive catalogue. Anyone interested should consult the search-room staff.
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